Our clients for this project had previously lengthened their dining room so as to house a large dining table suited to entertaining. However, their adjacent kitchen remained of an uncomfortable size. This is a very common problem. Yesterday’s kitchens are often wasteful of floor space; they appear large but are inefficient and perversely too small to accommodate informal or everyday dining. The solution here was to marginally increase the amount of kitchen whilst decreasing the floor area it occupied and slightly enlarging the overall size of the room. The difference is amazing. It has produced an extremely efficient kitchen and a good dining space. Furthermore, the opportunity has been taken to flood the resultant room with light and create an unobstructed view of and physical connection with the garden. No longer is the garden seen from a standing position behind the kitchen sink. It is now visible from all parts of the room. Surprisingly too, in this instance, the extended dining room was reduced in size. There were two reasons. First it had arguably been lengthened too much (so its proportions were very uncomfortable) and second, by reducing its size we were able to simplify and rationalize the roof structure. Gone therefore is the truncated hipped affair with a section of flat roof. In its place is a simple ‘lean-to’ roof which follows the same line as the glazing over the kitchen/dining space. As a finishing touch, a large patio has been created which is level with the floor, thus providing a smooth threshold between the building and the garden.